


Three Roads Diverged

by pulangaraw



Category: House M.D.
Genre: Continuation, Found Family, Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, after the end of season 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 16:12:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7274902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pulangaraw/pseuds/pulangaraw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three possible continuations of their lives after the end of Season 8.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Taking the Rocky Road

The day after Wilson's funeral, Gregory House walked into a police station in Princeton and handed himself over. Wilson had hung on for 8 months, rather than the predicted 5, but the last two months had been hard. Still, he'd promised Wilson to not give up, so he didn't.

They gave him 18 months without parole. He'd expected more, but for some reason some reporter had caught wind of his story and blown it up over the national news. _Asshole Genius Doctor Faked Own Death To Care For Terminal Best Friend_. Or some trash like that. Apparently a dozen or so of his former patients had written to the judge to ask for leniency. Apparently she'd been swayed. House didn't argue. He was too tired.

If anyone had gone to check the visitor log of the prison, they'd have found a handful of entries named Robert Chase. House had lost his medical license for good, but that didn't mean he'd lost his mind. Chase was a good diagnostician, but he didn't have House's experience (yet) and his occasional visits brought interesting distractions from trying to stay out of trouble with his current house mates. 

Foreman came by a few times and made sure he had spending money. House wanted to chalk it up to feelings of guilt over not perjuring himself for his former employee and former former boss, but they both knew that wasn't true. In the end it was really rather simple: you couldn't work together for eight years the way they had and not forge some sort of (dysfunctional) connection. 

There was one entry in the visitor log with the name Lisa Cuddy. It was dated three days before House's release. The visit had been short and for once there'd been no barbs, no lies between them. They'd never forgive each other, they simply weren't that kind of people, but they had established a truce. It was the best they could hope for.

He went to visit Thirteen about six years after his release. He patiently waited for her to recognise him. When she did, she smiled. She fell asleep that night and didn't wake up the next morning.

\---

There's an old guy who walks with a pronounced limp living in one of the beach cottages on the outskirts of San Juan. He's grouchy and abrasive and spends way too much time writing on his laptop, drinking scotch and looking at the night sky. But he's not hurting anyone, so the locals have learned to just let him be. 

Some people's lives suck, but everyone has the right to try to make their peace with the universe.


	2. The Paved Path

After about two weeks on the road, Wilson decides he's not ready to give up yet after all. He keeps it to himself for another week, but House knows anyway. He can see it in Wilson's eyes, in the way he holds himself, in the aborted attempts to speak only to blurt out something completely banal. 

He changes their general direction of travel until they reach one of the hospitals House had decided would be good enough to take care of Wilson's needs. He stops the bike in front of the hospital entrance and when Wilson pulls up next to him, looking guilty and tired, House just rolls his eyes and tells him to stop being an idiot. 

House rents a two-bedroom, ground-floor apartment about ten minutes away from the hospital. It comes furnished with all the basics they need and it becomes their home for the next two years and four months. 

It's a shitty time and it's a great time and they make the best of it. Wilson's parents come to visit a handful of times. Chase and Foreman show up twice, both times unannounced. Taub sends them three horribly saccharine Christmas cards. Thirteen keeps in regular email contact and on his bad days, House thinks it's only to make sure he knows where to find her when the time comes. None of the others know about David Hausman, who's taking care of his cousin, James Wilson, during his last years. 

Wilson dies in his sleep on September 14, 2014. The next day, David Hausman vanishes without a trace. No one ever finds out what happened to him. 

Remy Hadley's death is ruled to have been a fatal accident due to a prescription error in her medication. There's an investigation, but none of the attending doctors or nurses can be found at fault. To the outside world, it'll always remain a bit of a mystery.

Doctor Eric Foreman dies of a heart attack at age 58. The room is packed during the memorial service, but only a few of them are people Eric would have called friends. 

Rachel Cuddy becomes a journalist and writer. When she clears out the house after her mother's death, she finds a shoebox tucked into the back of the top shelf in the closet. It's full of old photographs of people from when they lived in Princeton. Some of them had been at the funeral a few weeks ago and some she doesn't recognise at all. A lot of the photos feature a scruffy looking guy leaning on a cane. Rachel still has vaguely fond memories of Uncle House, even though her mom had rarely ever talked about him in the years after they moved. She picks a handful of the nicer pictures to keep as mementos before adding the rest to the rubbish pile. 

Sophie takes after her dad and becomes a sought after plastic surgeon. Chris Taub couldn't be prouder of her. He doesn't really understand Sophia's love of classical music, but he supports her decision to become a professional cellist anyway. She's never going to be fantastic, but she's good enough to make a living and Taub goes to as many of her concerts as he can manage. Taub's life never quite lives up to his expectations, but he finds a certain kind of solace in that. He's content. 

Doctor Chase never does get married to Doctor Park, but that doesn't stop them from having two children and three grandchildren and living happily ever after. It's not what either of them would have predicted, but they learned not to question the good things in life.

It's true that everyone dies, but that doesn't mean life can't be good for some people.


	3. Rocky Road Is An Ice Cream Flavour, Not A Life Choice

Wilson's cancer takes a turn for the worse after about four months. He manages to hold on for two more weeks, but House can see the life drain out of him bit by bit every time he looks at him. Wilson doesn't ask him, he never would, but House knows anyway. Wilson is ready to let go. 

For the first time in his life House truly thinks that 'nothing' sounds a lot better than the alternative he's been clinging to for the past decade.

He doesn't envy the people who are going to have to deal with the paperwork after their bodies are found. He categorically refuses to think about his mother or Wilson's family or anyone else they're leaving behind. It's a dick move, but he's known for being a selfish asshole anyway. 

Nothing about death is easy, but he makes damn sure that theirs is at least peaceful.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Road Not Taken](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7340947) by [pulangaraw](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pulangaraw/pseuds/pulangaraw)




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